PHILADELPHIA, Penn. – It was deja vu for Post University Men's Lacrosse in its matchup against Chestnut Hill College on Wednesday night in a battle for the CACC Tournament's third seed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Finding themselves on the wrong side of the final score against the Griffins once again, an early two-goal lead would evaporate, seeing Chestnut Hill take a late two-goal lead like last year and win in identical fashion, 10-9, handing the Eagles the fourth seed in the CACC Tournament.

Post will face either the University of Bridgeport or Holy Family University next Monday at LaMoy Field in a First-Round game, pending the outcome of Friday's games. The Tigers need to win and see the Purple Knights drop their game to get in as the fifth seed, while Bridgeport simply needs to win, and they are in the CACC Tournament for a rematch of last year's First Round game against the Eagles. 

THE BASICS

Post University 9, Chestnut Hill College 10

Post University (8-6, 5-3 CACC)

Chestnut Hill College (7-5, 6-2 CACC)

HOW IT HAPPENED
Junior attacker Ryan Denike and sophomore midfielder Gabe Roman gave the Eagles a quick 2-0 edge with their goals coming less than a minute apart against junior goalie Adam Daley, who allowed four first-quarter goals, and the first goal of the second quarter, causing the Griffins to fall behind by three goals early, 5-2. Junior attacker Leighton Cooke, freshman midfielder Will Brien, and graduate attacker Hunter McCarty all accounted for the other trio of goals against Daley before Chestnut Hill began to work its way back into the affair.

Down by three with 9:59 left in the second, junior attacker Noah Hammon delivered the next two goals for the Griffins against freshman goalie Aiden Waller, bringing them within one, 5-4, before Cooke answered back with 3:02 to go with his second of the game. However, it would be just a one-goal halftime lead for Post via graduate midfielder Mick Kilgallon's score inside of a minute left, bringing him to two goals on the half as part of his three-goal game.

Kilgallon's goal would end up being the start of a 3-0 run that bled into the third quarter, giving the Griffins the lead for good despite Post tying the score up twice more at seven and eight all. After McCarty's goal right before the end of the third, which pulled the Eagles even at eight, senior midfielder Austin Derx made the most of the man advantage for Chestnut Hill with 9:54 remaining, and Kilgallon tacked on a goal for insurance that made it 10-8 with only 7:18 left in regulation. 

Senior attacker Robbie McGrayne put in his only goal of the game with 3:11 on the clock, but Post would not get another shot attempt against Daley over the remainder of regulation, as McGrayne turned the ball over with under a minute to go. As time wound down, senior midfielder Evan Farlow turned the ball back over to Post with 10 seconds left, but a costly penalty to senior long-stick midfielder James Sproul for slashing ended the Eagles' hopes of a comeback win, falling into the fourth seed with the 10-9 loss. 

BY THE NUMBER

• Leighton Cooke delivered his 12th hat trick of the season for Post University, scoring three times for three points in the loss 
• Over the last two seasons, Post University is a combined 0-7 against the top three teams in the CACC, consisting of Wilmington University, Chestnut Hill College, and Georgian Court University 
•  Aiden Waller finished with a new career-high in saves this season, with 15 stops on 25 attempts by Chestnut Hill College
• Now 3-9 in the all-time series against Chestnut Hill College, Post University has been held to under 10 goals in all but one matchup with the Griffins, and has now lost 10-9 to them in back-to-back seasons

WHO'S NEXT
Entering the CACC Tournament as the fourth seed, Post University will face the fifth seed next Monday at LaMoy Field at 3:30 PM, according to the CACC official website. The Eagles will either face Holy Family University or the University of Bridgeport, depending on the outcome of their two games on Friday night, but Post was victorious in the regular season against both teams.